Expert:building limited government highlights Xi' s reform

Prof. Yang Guangbin talks about advantages of state governance in China’s political reform at an international study forum in Beijing on Jan 4, 2015. (Photo/ Gao Yinan)

Beijing, Jan. 5 (People’s Daily Online) "Compared with the previous restructuring reforms, the biggest highlight of Xi Jinping’s reform strategy is to build a limited government in China, focusing on transformation of government functions," Yang Guangbin, a professor with Renmin University of China said at a forum Sunday in Beijing.

The forum entitled with “China International Study 2015: Great-Power Diplomacy with Chinese characteristics” is sponsored by School of International Studies of RUC starting from Jan. 3.

In his speech, Yang, dean of Academy of State Governance of Renmin University of China, analyzed China’s governance modernization from the perspective of world politics.

"In a limited government, the power of government to intervene in the exercise of civil liberties is restricted by law and all national organs exercise their power within the boundary of laws," Yang said.

However, any institutional changes in the laws bring unintended consequences. Government and interest groups have controlled too many resources leading to collusions between government and businessmen, which triggers monopoly in many industries.

Many people in the West might say, yes, China is rising as a new economic power in the world, but the development of China’s political systems has greatly lagged behind and democracy seems to be non-existent. "In my view, this is a misunderstanding,” Yang said, “China’s use of democracy in the advancement of the Chinese people is traditionally overlooked by the international community."

China’s advantage in state governance within the view of world politics not only comes from China good political practice. More importantly, the concept itself is a true reflection of the country's political realities, a profound insight into Chinese strategic pragmatism.

"Compared with all the developing countries, China is definitely the big winner under the standard of state governance," Yang added.

"Governance" and "democracy" have been the two most popular concepts since 1990s. In comparison, "governance" reflects a country's overall target, which is more pragmatic than “democracy” which is more of ideology.

According to Yang, in the international context, in this century, "governance" is increasingly becoming a more dominant discourse in the international community.

In the dialogue with the west, China’s state governance can help international community understand China and China’s development better.